Closet
by Calai'di
Summary: Set five years after AE. A chance meeting on the street drags Seto into a world he never knew, or wanted to know, existed.  And who's a ringleader there?  Who else but Yami Bakura.  Bakura x Seto, rated for language, themes.
1. Chapter 1

AN: First off, to my HP readers: no, I am not abandoning any of those fics. I fully intend to keep writing RSR and the others. I just have this plot bunny too...

Anyway, this wasn't originally a fic. This was an RP between myself and a friend of mine that I've decided needed to be turned into a fic. Most of the text here is actually from that RP, though I've modified little bits of it. Therefore, some of the credit to this writing has to go to my friend Tracee (anything that has to do with the Kaibas is hers; my character was Bakura).

So, to the boring stuff:

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yugioh. If I did...well, the duel between Bakura and Kaiba was rather slashy in the first place so...If I did, the series would have been uneditted and translated correctly. I also don't own _The Dark is Rising_ or _Harry Potter _series. And I don't own AXS (access), but I did get their new CD! I do, however, own my OCs (so don't steal them!).

**Rating:** M

**Warnings:** This contains SLASH, or YAOI. That means two boys liking each other and doing things with each other. If that bothers you, don't read. This is the only warning you'll have, since if you've gone on to further chapters, I would assume you have no problems with it.  
Also, it will contain several OCs. (_Secrets_ readers will recognize most of them, including my favorite!) They are not Mary-Sues. Most of them are actually characters from a set of novels I'm writing. The others are borrowed from other series. Don't worry, I hate Mary-Sues as much as the rest of us.

**Pairings:** **BakuraxSeto**, MarikxRyou, poss MokubaxAtemu, poss MokubaxOC

Also, a side note, the title comes from the new access CD, binary engine (no, there are no caps). Thought it was a rather appropiate song for the fic...what I could understand of it, anyway. access is amazing!

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**Closet**

**Chapter 1**

Baku trudged irritably down the street into the blowing snow, one hand stuck deep in a pocket of his black trench coat and the other, wrapped in a black glove, holding the coat closed at the top where the top two silver clasps had been ripped off. He was only out in the damnable snow in the first place because Ryou had convinced him he needed a job and he'd been stupid enough to listen. Provided, the job had paid off; he'd been able to buy his own motorcycle, but that had broken down on his way to work and was now in the shop without a hope of being fixed until next week sometime. So now he had to walk back to Ryou's apartment through the snow, which, while being on a motorcycle wouldn't have eliminated this factor, would take at least five times as long and therefore give him more exposure to the snow.

It was probably the one thing he hated about being who he was; he couldn't tolerate the snow. Boiling heat he could deal with, even if it was humid heat, although he did burn in this wretched body, but snow was completely new to him and he really hated it. _Really_ hated it. If only Ryou hadn't taken the Ring away from him, he would have banished the snow and the clouds and the stupid mortal teens that had laughed at him out the windows of their cars as they passed by, but sadly, that was exactly what Ryou was afraid might happen. So now he was out here in the damnable cold snow without a ride and without his Ring to save himself from it.

As that _ahou_ Pegasus might have said, Bakura was not a "happy bunny." Of course, luckily that fool was dead, or Bakura might have strangled him right now just for possibly thinking that.

His gaze flickered to the road as he heard another car approaching and was faintly annoyed to see it was a limo. He only knew three people who would dare to ride around the city in a limo, and the one he could think of that would stop for him, he didn't really want to see right now in the mood he was in. Bakura's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the limo slow to a stop next to him, then widened slightly, his only sign of surprise, when he saw it was Seto Kaiba sitting on the other side of the rolled down window. Well, the stuck up CEO certainly wasn't who he'd expected to see, although his brat of a brother had probably gotten him to stop if he was in the car, but he couldn't say he wouldn't be grateful if they offered to give him a ride back to Ryou's.

"Evening, Kaiba," Bakura said in his rich tone, trying to sound as pleasant as possible. He didn't bother to disguise himself as Ryou, though; if Kaiba and his brother couldn't deal with him being himself by now, he didn't want to ride with them anyway.

Kaiba looked away in annoyance, hand reaching for the button to roll up the window, he was stopped by Mokuba leaning over his lap though, arms on the window, "Hey Bakura, I thought it was you, what are you doing walking, don't you have a bike?"

"Who cares." Kaiba's lip curled in a sneer, but Mokuba ignored him.

Bakura smirked sadistically, glaring at Kaiba for the briefest moment for his remark. "I do, but it decided it didn't like me anymore this morning. I won't have it back until next week."

"Oh." Mokuba fell silent for a moment before he offered, ignoring the piercing glare from his brother boring into the side of his skull, "Do you want a ride?"

Bakura dipped his head once in answer, not smiling but not looking mean or pissed either. "If it's not too much trouble, I would appreciate it."

"Sure. Hop in." Mokuba continued ignoring his brother as he opened the door, Kaiba shifting over when his brother prodded, though he hardly seemed happy about it.

Bakura shook his head a bit like a dog to get rid of as much snow as possible before he slid into the limo, flashing both brothers a faint smirk.

"I would thank you, but I think it would give all of us a heart attack. I owe you, though."

"It's no big deal." Mokuba shut the door and settled back in his seat after picking up the phone and tossing it into Bakura's lap, "Just tell the driver the address."

Lip still curled in disgust and annoyance, Kaiba returned to his work, choosing to ignore Bakura.

After speaking the address into the phone, Bakura handed it back to Mokuba, since he had no idea what else to do with it, and leaned lightly against the door, occasionally brushing his hair out of his eyes as he watched the scenery go by.

Mokuba hung the phone up and switched off his ipod, watching Bakura for a moment before asking, "So where do you work?"

Bakura glanced at Mokuba with what could have been an unsure expression, though that was unlikely, for a moment before he answered, sure that neither brother would believe him, "I'm a computer programmer for a company downtown, and on Friday nights I work at a club."

Mokuba's eyebrows rose but he accepted this, while Kaiba just snorted softly in disbelief.

"What company?," Mokuba asked after a slight pause. "What club for that matter?"

Bakura slanted a look at Kaiba, though he answered just as plainly as before, "Taikito Industries—which Otogi recommended me to—and the club is the Golden Scorpion. It took months to get into either of them."

"Cool. What's the age limit on the club?" Mokuba completely ignored the warning glance Kaiba gave him when the elder sensed the younger's thought process.

Bakura simply looked amused, answering truthfully. "Seventeen."

"Ah, cool, I'll have to go then!" Mokuba grinned slightly, sitting back, deliberately ignoring the dark expression on his brother's face.

Bakura smirked at this. "Only if you pay extra to compensate for when your brother comes after me for telling you about it and letting you in."

Mokuba glanced at his brother then waved his hand dismissively. "I'm eighteen."

"That doesn't mean I won't lock you in your room," Kaiba muttered warningly.

Bakura watched them with amusement, not even jumping when very annoying sounding rap song started playing from inside his coat. He made a face at it as he pulled it out, planning to just shut the thing off when he saw that it was Ryou calling and answered it immediately, rolling his eyes at his hikari's chipper mood.

"_Hi, 'Kura! I didn't think you'd answer."_

"I've told you not to call me that," Bakura muttered, using Egyptian since he could feel the younger Kaiba watching him and obviously attentive to what he was doing. "What do you want?"

"_I can't call my yami just to say 'hi'?"_

Bakura let his stoic silence speak for him on that account.

Ryou sighed into the phone. _"All right, fine, that's not why I'm calling. I wanted to tell you that Marik's coming over. He should be here in a couple minutes."_

Bakura scowled; he hated the idea of that psychotic tomb keeper even stepping foot in his apartment, much less doing what he usually did with Ryou.

"_He also asked me to tell you that while he adores your presence, he doesn't want you to be around tonight." _Ryou sounded a little apologetic, though the effect was ruined when he giggled and added,_ "I think he might be planning something special."_

"I don't care what the fuck he's planning," Bakura growled. "I don't want him around either."

"_But...he's already coming over,"_ Ryou said in that annoyingly innocent tone of his. _"I can't just tell him to leave."_

Bakura closed his eyes and silently counted to ten. It wouldn't do to lose his temper in front of the Kaibas, since that would likely result in him ending up out in the snow again.

"Fine," he finally muttered into the phone. "I'll find somewhere else to crash tonight. Tell Marik he owes me."

"_Thanks, 'Kura!"_ Ryou chirped. "_You're the best!"_

"Don't call me that!" Bakura hissed into the phone, but Ryou had already hung up. Cursing under his breath, Bakura turned off his phone and stuffed it back into his coat. So, he couldn't go home, and more than likely, the Kaibas wouldn't be so hospitable as to let his spend the night at their mansion. Now what was he going to do?

"What's going on? You looked pissed," Mokuba asked, sounding far too interested and thus confirming Bakura's suspicion that the brat had been watching him.

"Marik decided he needed to 'visit' my hikari tonight, so I've been unceremoniously thrown out of the house until morning. Usually I would just drive around town and spend the night in a couple clubs but..." Bakura shrugged, sure he looked a good deal more casual about this new development than he probably should have, since he didn't know what he was going to do now.

Mokuba's eyebrows rose again and then he shrugged nonchalantly, "So come stay with me for the night. I have a guest room in my wing."

"No," Kaiba objected immediately, his face set in a scowl.

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Like you would even see him. You spend all night practically glued to your office chair!"

He glared back at his brother, jaw set and after a moment, Kaiba went back to typing, giving in under what was obviously an old argument.

Kaiba, Bakura decided with another brief glare at said man, completely hated him. He wasn't sure why, either, besides the fact that Kaiba didn't much like anyone, but he hadn't ever actually threatened the brunet. Sure, there was that one time that he'd used Mokuba as bait, but that had been years ago. Even he didn't hold a grudge that long unless he had a very good reason, like the destruction of his village.

He sent a nod to Mokuba in thanks, saying with a smirk, "I'll have to see what I can do about getting you a free pass into the club for a night."

"Cool." Mokuba grinned, glancing at his brother when he stiffened but ignoring it.

Bakura just nodded once again and looked back out the window, thoroughly enjoying pushing Kaiba's buttons like this, especially since the other male had no reason to be annoyed with him in the first place.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **Most of this is completely rewritten from how it was. There are a few lines from the original RP, but most of it I wrote because it just wasn't filled out enough. So, most of it is my friend's ideas (because she did the Kaibas), but it's almost all my writing. I'm glad you all enjoy it so much!

**

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**Closet**

**Chapter 2 **

"Master Kaiba, who is that?"

Seto glanced up at the guard, who he only employed to look intimidating—computers only got one so far after all. The man was peering curiously into the limo at something near Mokuba. Seto didn't remember what until he glanced over.

_Bakura_.

He had forgotten the man was there. Granted, Bakura and Mokuba had talked quite a bit earlier, and then Bakura had received that obnoxious phone call and they had talked even more. But then both had gone silent and Seto had completely forgotten the man was there.

Now that he had remembered, he felt extremely edgy.

"He's a guest," he finally muttered. "Mokuba offered him a place to stay for the night."

"O-oh. All right, then. Have a good evening, Master Kaiba." The guard bowed and moved back into an alcove in the wall.

The driver finished inputting the many codes, fingerprints, and eye-scans required to get inside, and the heavy iron gates creaked open. Out of the corner of his eye, Seto noticed Bakura's form tense very slightly, like one committing something to memory. He frowned; he would have to change the codes before morning.

He tried to turn his attention back to his work, sure he could do a little more before the car stopped, but he felt distracted. Bakura shifted slightly, and his eyes were drawn to the reflected movement in his window. He didn't know how he could have forgotten the thief was there. Now that he was aware, Bakura's presence felt like an imposing weight on his consciousness.

The limo came to a stop. Annoyed, at himself and Bakura, Seto snapped his laptop shut and slipped out of the car. Bakura's presence behind him as he walked to the door made him feel far more paranoid than he liked. He slipped a key card out of his pocket, into the slot next to the door, and back into his pocket again, only just keeping himself from double checking that it was still there a moment later.

He shook himself mentally. Bakura would be crazy to try something in his own home. He would be fine; there was nothing to worry about.

He still moved as quickly as he could to escape to his downstairs office.

"Come on, I'll show you to the guest room," he heard Mokuba say behind him. He had to admit, he felt a small bit of guilt at the exasperated tone in his brother's voice.

He tensed, but didn't stop, when he heard Mokuba continue, "Just ignore him. He's married to his work as always, I've given up on it."

He couldn't make out Bakura's reply, but he didn't care. I hurt a little to hear his brother say things like that. He did try to spend time with Mokuba and though he couldn't always do it, he always tried to make up their lost time.

He still felt troubled as he sat down at his office computer and began to work again. However, he didn't feel so troubled that he forgot to put the mansion on partial lockdown; he wasn't about to risk Bakura stealing something in the middle of the night.

* * *

After a couple hours, Seto stood, stretched, and headed out to wander about the mansion for a couple minutes. He would have liked to work for a least twice as long before going to bed, but his eyes, hands, and aching back wouldn't let him. 

A door slammed. He frowned and changed direction, walking into Mokuba's wing of the mansion. Sure enough, as he approached, he saw that his brother's door was shut tight.

He rapped a knuckle against the door but didn't wait for an answer before he opened it and stepped into the room. Mokuba was sitting back against the headboard of his bed, a sketchpad balanced on his knees, a scowl set on his face as his hand moved furiously across the page. Seto could hear his brother's music from the doorway as clearly as if he had Mokuba's headphones on his own ears.

Seto walked over, picked up Mokuba's ipod, and turned it down, then off. Mokuba looked up, and scowl ready on his face, but it disappeared as soon as he saw who was standing by his bed. He set the sketchpad aside and pulled the earbuds out of his ears with a questioning expression.

"I came to say good night," Seto said, lying through his teeth, though it was a perfect excuse. "Don't stay up too late." _Like I will_, he added silently.

He bent down to press a kiss to his brother's forehead, embracing him in return when arms wound around his neck. Even though it was common now, it was still a relief that his brother was still his little brother and no longer hated him. They'd had a very rough time not too long ago.

"I won't," Mokuba murmured in his ear. ''Night, Seto. I think I'm going to get something to snack on, though; I'm hungry."

Seto nodded and let go, stepping aside so Mokuba would have room to get to his feet.

"You didn't have enough for dinner," Seto admonished as they walked out of the room.

Mokuba shrugged. "I don't like Italian."

As they passed Mokuba's guest room, Mokuba paused and slanted a look inside. Seto's eyes narrowed; he'd nearly forgotten about Bakura again. He couldn't let that become a habit. He kept walking, only slowing when he heard the cold tone of his brother's voice.

"I'm going to get something to eat, do you want to come with and see if there's anything you want?"

He hadn't often heard his brother sound that cold to anyone. Bakura must have royally pissed his brother off. Seto growled inwardly; Bakura had better hope Mokuba had already punished him for whatever he had done.

He paused long enough to hold the door to the wing open for his brother, sending Bakura a glare when he felt the thief's eyes on him. Bakura looked away immediately, but the look of hurt that had shown in the thief's eyes for that brief moment haunted him as he made his way back down to his office.

* * *

After another couple hours, Seto shut down his computer and sat back, staring blankly at the wall. Bakura's russet eyes flashed in his mind's eye. Angrily, he shook his head to rid himself of the image. What did he care about the thief anyway? As far as he knew, Bakura had already left the mansion with half of his belongings and maybe Mokuba, too. 

He stood but immediately sat down again. He was being foolish; he would know if anyone left the mansion while it was on lockdown. There was nothing to worry about.

Still, he thought as he stood again and walked out of the room, it wouldn't hurt to check.

Seto traced his steps from earlier back to Mokuba's wing, pausing at his brother's door to check on him. Mokuba was, as usual, completely submerged under the covers of his bed with not even a single black lock poking out. Seto found himself smiling very faintly as he closed the door again, but then, his brother could always make him smile.

He turned to head back out of the wing, but as he passed the guest room, something made him pause. The door had been left open a crack. He stared at it in surprise; he had thought a criminal like Bakura would be too paranoid to do something so trusting. Intrigued, he quietly pushed open the door so he could look in.

All he could see was a mass of white hair protruding out from under the covers; the thief slept almost as covered as Mokuba did. A clean, fresh smell hit his nose and he noticed the white hair didn't seem as wild as usual; Bakura must have taken a shower before bed.

Looking around the room, Seto had to admit he was surprised that he didn't see anything that hadn't been here in the first place, besides the clothes Bakura had been wearing when they picked him up. He almost allowed himself to wonder if he had been wrong about Bakura all along.

Then he shook his head violently. Of course he was right about Bakura; the thief was simply trying to gain his trust by not doing anything. This man had nearly destroyed the whole of Egypt, stolen his brother's soulless body, and stabbed his own arm simply to trick the dork-squad. The ex-spirit was an insane, masochistic, kleptomaniac. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

He moved to leave the room but he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eyes that stopped him. Bakura was shivering. Even though he had piled on extra blankets as was almost completely covered, Bakura was shivering.

The sudden thought that Bakura might have gotten sick from being out in the cold so long occurred to him, but he couldn't bring himself to check. This was, after all, the demon Bakura. The demon Bakura who reminded him so much of Mokuba when he slept. The demon Bakura who had nearly killed his brother, and burned villages, and stole from his 'friends.'

Seto closed the door and walked away. Bakura could deal with his own problems. He needed sleep or he would end up sick, and he couldn't afford that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Closet**

**Chapter 3**

Bakura woke around five the next morning, a little earlier than usual and unfortunately necessary. Without his bike, he would have to walk to Ryou's apartment to steal Marik's, and that would take a good deal of time. Mokuba had offered the previous night to drive him to and from work until his bike was fixed, but he felt a little...uncomfortable about that.

Bakura frowned at nothing in particular. If he really thought about it, he felt uncomfortable around Mokuba period. Maybe it was residual guilt of almost killing the boy, though he doubted that, or maybe it was the way Mokuba had been looking him over the night before. He was an interesting enough person, but if there was one thing Bakura hated, it was being gawked at.

Which he had told the teen the night before, which had pissed him off quite a bit, yet he had still offered to drive him around. Bakura shook his head. He just did not understand mortals sometimes.

Almost automatically, he made the bed and folded the clothes Mokuba had lent him for the night, cleaning up the room so that it looked like he had never been there. He nearly stopped when he realized what he was doing, but figured it couldn't hurt his image at this stage. Then he opened the door to begin his attempt of finding his way out of the mansion—

—Only to run into the maid that had been standing there, hand raised to knock on the door.

"Oh!" the maid exclaimed, looking very startled indeed. "Um, sir, breakfast is on the table and Master Kaiba is requesting that you join him..."

Bakura's eyebrows rose in surprise. He had definitely not expected to eat this morning, nor to be invited to breakfast by either of the Kaibas. "Fine, lead the way. Which Kaiba?"

The maid blinked rapidly, nervously walking only about an inch in front of him. "Um, Master Mokuba always sleeps through breakfast, sir."

"He could have changed his mind," Bakura said with a shrug.

She shook her head a little too enthusiastically. "H-he only gets up this early when he's going to work with Master Kaiba, Sir. I've never seen him up early otherwise and I've worked here for three years..."

"I see..."

Bakura frowned slightly. Why had Mokuba been so insistent on giving him a ride, then? He would have been completely going out of his way to do it.

"Sir?"

Bakura glanced over. The maid stared at him anxiously; clearly, she thought she might have said something that could get her fired.

He waved it off, saying with a slight smirk, "Mokuba's a rather confusing, annoying person, I've found."

She blinked then giggled a little, "Really? He's really nice to all of the staff. Much more so than Master Kaiba. He even let one of the other maids stay in one of his guest rooms for a few weeks while she was between apartments...and gave her a ride to her second job at night before he went to school..."

"I think we'd all have a heart attack if Kaiba was any nicer to people other than his brother," Bakura answered with a smirk. "It would probably give him one too." 

She nodded but flushed when she realized how she was talking about her employers. Looking abashed, she apologized with a slight bow and opened one of the double doors into the dining room. Kaiba was already sitting at the head of the long table, eating while flipping though a thick binder of papers.

Bakura looked once over the scene before walking over to sit at the table, where a plate had been set out for him. He made sure to watch Kaiba out of the corner of his eye as he started eating, as he was sure the brunet was doing the same to him.

After about a minute of silence, Kaiba closed the binder and turned narrowed eyes on Bakura, his fingertips tented over his plate. "I want to know about the club you work at."

Bakura shrugged. "What do you need to know about it? It's a nightclub."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed a little more, "I want to know what kind of people go there, the rules, and anything else that may relate to my brother's safety."

Bakura shrugged again, set his fork down, and looked at Kaiba proper, completely unfazed by the look he was being given. "Most of the people who come are gay or bi, but not all of them. Every Friday we have a strip show on the front stage, and a couple bands play live after that. The age limit is seventeen, like I said yesterday, but we don't give alcohol to anyone under twenty-one. There's a no sex policy on the dance floor, and usually we prefer people to get a room rather than use the lounge area or the second floor balcony."

He smirked slightly as he added, "I usually work at the bar with Marik, but we've been asked to perform a routine on the stage this Friday."

Kaiba's eyes became slits as Bakura went on and once the thief was finished, he said in a low voice, "I want you to stay away from my little brother."

Bakura just stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "No offence, but you don't like anyone hanging out with your brother. I can't see why I would be any different. Besides, it's Mokuba who been trying to be friendly with me, not the other way around."

"Most of the time, I don't care who hangs out with him, but I want you to stay away from him, regardless of who is being friendly to who," Kaiba answered, looking annoyed at being told about what he did.

Bakura's eyes glinted dangerously at this, but it was fleeting and soon he just looked annoyed as well instead of angry. "It's rather hard to stay away from someone who's trying be your friend. Would you rather I told him to fuck off and hurt his feelings, so he'll come running back to you, telling you false tales about how mean I am?"

"If you must." Kaiba's voice was cold as he turned back to his breakfast.

Bakura raised an eyebrow in disbelief, staring at him for a moment before going back to his own food. "How callous."

Kaiba's eyes slanted towards Bakura. "It may be, but protecting my brother"s well being is more important than petty feelings."

It was harder for Bakura to quell the annoyance he felt at the unspoken insinuation in that statement, but he managed to keep it down enough that he only glared at Kaiba once. "I'm not about to harm your brother, Kaiba," he bit out. "There are far worse threats than me in the world, ones that would be perfectly willing to hurt him."

Kaiba set his fork down and turned towards Bakura. "Oh? And just what would those be? The ones that are worse than a conniving spirit of a thief that almost stole my brother's body and tortured countless others in both lifetimes?"

"That," Bakura hissed, bristling at the mention of what he'd done, only because it reminded him of just why he'd done it, "was five years ago. I was perfectly justified in doing what I did; even Yami said so when I explained it to him. And I made one attempt on your brother—just one—and not one since. I know what it's like to lose a loved one."

Kaiba's gaze hardened further. "Once is enough to piss me off. Stay. Away. From. Mokuba."

"Fine," Bakura answered with a soft growl, "I understood you the first time. But it won't work if he doesn't want me to stay away."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kaiba growled.

"It means that if your brother does want to be my friend, he's not going to be deterred much if I tell him to fuck off. Or if you tell him to stay away from me." Bakura gave Kaiba a pointed look. "Meaning that he'll just keep coming back, trying to be my friend, whether I'm trying to stay away from him or not. Rather like what Yugi does."

Kaiba frowned darkly, thinking. After a moment, he turned back to his breakfast, speaking in a more normal tone, "Fine, but I will find a way to make you regret it if anything happens to him."

Bakura nodded but didn't say anything as he started eating again; anything he felt like saying would have pissed Kaiba off even more and he did not feel like fighting with anyone at the moment.

Kaiba's eyes slanted towards Bakura again. "I also want to see that club for myself before Mokuba steps foot near it."

Bakura shut his eyes once, trying to calm down. "Fine, when do you want to go?"

"Tomorrow," Kaiba said as he finished his breakfast and began gathering up the papers he had spread out on the table. "I have a break between meetings around noon."

"I only have an hour long lunch-break," Bakura answered, finishing his own breakfast.

"Fine." Kaiba stood and started out. "Come to Kaiba Corp. on your break, we'll go from there."

Bakura followed him after moment, though only because he needed to go the same way to get out of the mansion. That didn't stop him from glaring daggers in Kaiba's back as they went.

Kaiba paused once outside and turned back to Bakura. "Do you need to be dropped off anywhere?"

Bakura stared at him, surprised and a little wary. What could Kaiba be up to, that he would be willing to spend more time alone with a person he seemed to hate so much? But after a moment, he shook his head, answering politeness with politeness.

"You don't have to. It would be out of your way."

"I'm not going to Kaiba Corp," Kaiba said, annoyance clear in his voice. "I have a meeting elsewhere today."

Bakura eyed him for another couple seconds before he nodded and slipped into the car.

"Give the driver the address," Kaiba said as he slid inside and shut the door behind him.

Bakura waited for the driver to get in, gave him the address of Ryou's apartment in the phone he had used the previous night, then leaned over against the door, head against the window, eyes closed, more than ready to ignore the rest of the world.

Seto looked to be turned out and staring out the window at the passing scenery, but he was really watching Bakura's reflection in the window. The thief seemed to have fallen asleep, though Seto knew better than that. However, he made a good impression of it, and even seemed to have relaxed more than Seto would have expected. Bakura almost looked...vulnerable.

As though he knew what Seto was thinking, Bakura shifted so his hair covered his face, blocking it from view. Feeling a little embarrassed in spite of himself, Seto refocused his eyes so he was looking out the window rather than at it.

Bakura's eyes opened after a few minutes to watch the street fly by beneath them. He caught a slight movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced at Kaiba. The brunet looked rather uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"Are you all right?" he asked, knowing he must be mad for even thinking it.

"Fine," Kaiba growled through clenched teeth, though he was beginning to look a little ill.

Bakura frowned and sat up, watching him impassively until realization dawned. "Are you getting carsick?"

"No," Kaiba bit out, turning his face away but jerking it back just as quickly.

Bakura frowned at him for another minute or so before he dug into one of his pockets and pulled out a ginger candy. "Here," he said, holding it out to Kaiba. "It'll help."

"Help what?" Kaiba growled stubbornly.

Bakura rolled his eyes, just as stubbornly keeping his hand outstretched with the candy in it for Kaiba to take. "Your stomach. Ryou gets motion sick as well, so I know the signs. This'll help get rid of the nausea."

Kaiba glared at Bakura's hand for a moment before snatching the candy away, unwrapping it, and putting it in his mouth with a distrustful look. Bakura nodded curtly in approval and looked back out the window, drawing his hand back to rest on his lap again with the other.

Kaiba's narrowed eyes followed Bakura's movement, and after a moment, while looking a little better, he gave an emotionless, "Thank you."

"Your welcome," Bakura answered automatically, glancing once at Kaiba with another faint nod before his eyes closed again like earlier.

Looking faintly annoyed, mostly with himself, Kaiba turned his eyes back to his lap.

Bakura's eyes opened again when he felt the Ring getting much closer and turned his gaze out the window so Kaiba wouldn't see the almost homesick look in his eyes that would never show on his face.

Kaiba glanced over at the movement and caught the look in Bakura's eyes in the reflection on the window. "What's wrong with you?"

Bakura's eyes were blank in an instant as he glared over at Kaiba, more annoyed at himself for allowing the brunet for seeing his one moment of weakness than at Kaiba for asking about it. "Nothing."

"You're lying." Kaiba snorted and looked away as the limo pulled to a stop. "Not that I should have expected any better from you."

Bakura visibly prickled but said nothing, stepping out of the limo on his own instead without bothering to wait for the driver to get out and open his door, but as soon as he was standing he briefly turned back around, just able to see Kaiba's face.

"Thanks," he muttered. Then he closed the door and headed off without waiting for an answer.

Kaiba's eyebrows shot up in surprise before he snorted softly in annoyance and looked away at his lap as the limo pulled away from the curb.

Since he was so close to the Ring, Bakura could finally tap into it (Ryou had blocked him from using it at a distance when he'd taken it away), and he took out some of his annoyance at Kaiba by blowing up a branch of a nearby tree in such a way that it completely disintegrated at it exploded, resulting in a fine dust covering everything nearby. He really hated that people keep using his past against him, especially when it was grossly exaggerated. He never had lied outright until a couple year before; usually he just never told the whole truth.

And he'd never actually _tried_ to piss off Kaiba the way he had Atemu and his friends. In fact, he'd only gone after Mokuba that one time because he'd been conveniently soulless and it looked unlikely that he'd get his soul back anytime soon; he never would have touched the kid otherwise. And the time he'd used Mokuba for bite to get his brother to duel him; just another convenience, but never something he'd planned out in full.

Kaiba didn't know anything about him; he had no right to bring up his past like that. He was—almost—completely different now.

Eager to get some of his frustration out, since blowing up the tree branch hadn't really helped, Bakura headed up to Ryou's apartment and let himself in with his spare key, careful to be quite about it since it was early enough that Ryou and Marik would still be asleep. He rolled his eyes when he passed his hikari's room, since it looked like they'd fallen asleep with Marik still inside his lover, but paused long enough to pull the forgotten covers over both of them, and then went on to his room to strip so he could take a shower.

About fifteen minutes later, Bakura left the apartment, clean and dressed in nice but comfortable clothes and with his hair brushed and pulled back in a black hair tie, to see if he could pull off stealing Marik's bike. The motorcycle in question was waiting out behind the bushes in front of the building, but wasn't completely unprotected; Bakura had to disable several traps before he could roll it out into the street. As soon as he started it, though, a hand pulled open a window high above and the owner head poked itself out to see where the noise was coming from.

"What the hell...Bakura! Get the fuck off my bike!"

Bakura briefly glanced at him with a laugh and started driving away, calling back mockingly, "Thanks for the bike, Marik! I'll give it back in a week!"

"Fuck you, Bakura!"


End file.
